A State Trooper is now monitoring traffic on Route 44 Mondays through Fridays while crews work on new retaining walls west of the village center.
Traffic lights allow alternating travel over one lane, but some people have tried to run the light.
“There have been all kinds of little mishaps” since the lights were installed, said First Selectman Matt Riiska.
Selectman Sandy Evans, ambulance service EMT, noted that if motorists jump the light, it is impossible to see if a car has entered from the other side. “It’s one thing to back up a car,” she said, “but it would be difficult if we had to back an ambulance out of that narrow, bumpy chute.”
Riiska said people who know the area also have been trying to avoid the light by using Ashpohtag and Old Colony Roads. “That will be a concern sooner rather than later,” he said.
The DOT has altered its plans for reconstructing the section of road, cutting the disruption by more than two years, but it will still be two years more before the work is done.